The Wedding (1973) Plot Summary Explained

Release, runtime and language

1973 · 102 mins · Polish

Directed by

Andrzej Wajda

Starring

Daniel Olbrychski, Emilia Krakowska, Olgierd Łukaszewicz, Wojciech Pszoniak, Leszek Piskorz, Bożena Dykiel

Set at the turn of the century, the film follows a Polish poet in Kraków who decides to marry a peasant girl. Their wedding gathers a colorful cross‑section of Polish society—dancers, drinkers, and mourners—who lament the nation’s century‑long partition by Russia, Prussia and Austria. Throughout the celebration, the groom, his painter friend and a journalist each confront haunting spectres of Poland’s past.